With two counties to go, Marchione leads by 110

Sen. Roy McDonald fell four more votes behind Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione in their Republican primary contest in the 43rd Senate District.

Elections officials counted 359 absentee and provisional ballots Thursday, and the net result put Marchione, of Halfmoon, ahead of McDonald by 110 votes. He has a steep path to make up his deficit when the remaining 674 absentee and provisional ballots in Saratoga and Columbia counties are examined Monday.

COUNTY

McDonald

Marchione

Absentees

Provisional

Marchione obj.

McDonald obj.

Saratoga County

3503

3356

404

16

Columbia County

1064

1038

249

2 valid, 5 total

Rensselaer County

2196

2403

x

x

19

2

Washington County

132

208

x

x

1

Total

6895

7005

Difference

-110

Marchione gained three of those votes in Rensselaer County, Republican Elections Commissioner Larry Bugbee said, and one in Washington County, an elections staffer there said.Twenty-two ballots were set aside for possible court consideration; 20 as a result of objections by the Marchione campaign and two as a result of objections from McDonald.

The counting will continue Friday when Columbia County officials recanvass their election machines. On Monday, the rest of the absentee ballots will be examined. It’s likely a candidate will concede if the margin is greater than the number of objectionable ballots, which otherwise would be subject to court argument.

Even if he loses the Republican line, McDonald could forge ahead with a third-party challenge on the Independence Party line. He has not said if he will do so.

(A correction to what a BOE staffer told me yesterday: Rensselaer County did its machine recanvass today. There was no change in the tally, according to Bugbee.)